New Resources Announced for Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
The St. Louis County Department of Public Health has announced two important enhancements to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) that covers much of Missouri including Jackson, Clay and Cass counties in the Kansas City area:
- Prescribing Summaries will now be sent quarterly to providers in the Missouri jurisdictions covered by the PDMP. The Prescribing Summary breaks down the provider’s prescribing activity and compares it to one’s peers. Summaries are meant to help providers assess their own practice and will not be shared with employers or the public. Any physician, dentist, optometrist or podiatrist who practices in a participating PDMP jurisdiction and has written at least 15 prescriptions for controlled substances in the last quarter will receive a Prescribing Summary. Providers with PDMP accounts will receive their summary online within the PDMP; summaries will be mailed to providers without PDMP accounts. See the Prescribing Summary Packet for more information.
- Opioid Prescribing and Pain Management Toolbox
is a
new centralized opioid resource for providers who are prescribing opioids and /or treating patients with pain. The toolbox contains information across six key areas of opioid management: 1) building a supportive patient-provider relationship, 2) screening and assessment, 3) safer prescribing, 4) harm reduction, 5) treatment across health care settings, and 6) training and educational opportunities. Each section highlights evidence-based practices and guidelines to help health care providers deliver compassionate, clinically appropriate pain management and opioid use disorder treatment. Access the provider toolbox
The St. Louis County Prescription Drug Monitoring Program was launched in 2017 in the absence of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. Currently, 75 city and county jurisdictions participate in the PDMP, representing 85% of the state population and 94% of health care providers. Besides Kansas City and St. Louis, other larger Missouri cities represented in the program include Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Jefferson City, Joplin, Springfield and St. Joseph. Leading the creation of the PDMP was UMKC School of Medicine alum and anesthesiologist Sam Page, MD, who is now the county executive of St. Louis County.
Missouri is the only state without a prescription drug monitoring program; legislation again has been introduced this year in both houses of the Missouri General Assembly.
